The fight scene is a glorious thing. Long after the dust has settled and you are sick of watching the movie, you can revisit the fight scenes over and over again. Unlike other forms of action sequence, a good fight can get better with each viewing. There is often so much happening at once that even on a 10th viewing you will notice some clever technique or camera trick and it will re-ignite your passion for the scene.
I have loved martial arts film ever since I was a boy, watching any and all the films I could get my hands on. Over the years I discovered that if you want the best action in the world, you have to look to the East. There will probably be a lot of people out there who will criticise me for only having films from Asia in this list. I will get told about which fights I have missed that are amazing. Well chances are I will agree with you. There are 100s of amazing fights and if I wanted to I could easily list 100 amazing film scraps. But no, I wanted to list the cream of the crop and for that you have to look East.
The scenes in this list aren’t necessarily ranked because they are in amazing films. Nor are they all here for the same reasons. Some of the scenes in this list are technical marvels that not only feature amazing stunts but amazing film making. Others are here because they are iconic, ground breaking or just plain cool.
You might disagree with my choices but if you are a fight fan I can assure you that you will enjoy them. Oh, and I have saved you the effort of searching Youtube and added each scene right here for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!
We are currently seeking Film contributors on WhatCulture. To find out more about the perks of being a Film contributor, click here.
8 Comments
Ed,
great work, you’re clearly a big fan of this genre. I can’t really disagree with anything you said, but I would like to suggest some specific fight scenes I think are pretty cool.
1) Pretty much every scene from Jackie Chan’s ‘The Young Master’. Special props to the final 15 min 1 on 1 scene.
2) The ‘monastery stick’ scene from Jet Li’s ‘The Twin Warriors’. This also has a very touching story to it as well.
3) ‘The Axe Gang’ fight scene from Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master 2.
Chris
Chris, I couldn’t agree more. I love all those fights. I think The Young Master’s final fight is one of his best as well, soley as it goes against genre conventions, not to mention has a little wink at the Drunken Master…as he is drinking opium water or whatever that foul stuff is.
I also love the other two fights, though for me Jet Li’s best stick fight is against Donnie Yen in Once Upon a Time in China 2. In fact there are two, but the first one is the one I like best. Such great atmosphere and the fight is almost entirely grounded and just uses the actor’s mad skills.
The axe gang fight from Drunken Master 2 is a really nice call back to the old Wong Fei Hung films starring Kwan Tak Hing, using the oil to avoid capture. At least, I think that is what happens? I could be getting mixed up it has been a few years since I watched that film. Great movie though!
Sha Po Long Street Fight scene is my best
Yeah it has some good fights. I personally prefer Flashpoint but the fight scene is a personal thing.
Some great viewing there. Many thanks! Especially Ip Man and Bruce Lee bring back cherished memories.
I am afraid, though, that the entry no. 2 is not clear. As I have come to learn, the video is actually Bruce Lee and Kareem-Abdul Jabbar. It was from some of Bruce Lee’s original film material, long thought lost but found many years after his passing.
Someone with more time on his hands may want to check up on that or look into some of the Bruce Lee biographies. One of them explicitly shows these scenes and mentions the connections.
100 % agree though that the 70s movie Game of Death is the cheapest rip-off ever!!!
One last note. I still prefer the Way of the Dragon and would have placed the epic fight scene in the Collisseum at no. 1.
Yeah, the Documentary is Bruce Lee: A Warrior’s Journey. The video I posted is from that, and I did mention this. Check it out, it’s a great watch for any Bruce Lee fan.
What the hell is this? Battle of the chinks? all asian movies. boring. crap article. go kill yourself.
Some nice choices! I would have probably thrown in Hugh Grant vs. Colin Firth in Bridget Jones’s Diary haha.